The early days of railways saw many smaller companies building many small, non-standard coaches for passenger use. Coaches of this era produced a varied mix, but all adopted the same basic design developed from stagecoaches: a wooden body, bolted to a wooden or steel frame. With the development of the railways, many of these older coach designs became outdated and as speeds increased the four and six wheel coaches became incredebly uncomfortable.

Every vehicle in our vintage set has an interesting story to tell. Many survived in use as garden sheds or built into bungalows of the 1930s. Our vehicles date from between 1884 and 1929.

M&GN No.3

This vehicle was a garden shed for over 60 years and is a miraculous survivor. It was built by the Midland railway and transferred to Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway ownership in 1903. It has been rebuilt and now sits on a 1913 Midland 6 wheel steel frame.

M&GN No.129

This five compartment third class vehicle was cocooned inside a bungalow at Pott Row, near Kings Lynn for 60 years. It was built by the Great Northern Railway and was transferred to Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway ownership in 1903. It has now been restored to full working order and sits on a converted tube wagon chassis.

(Above: M&GN no.129. Steve Allen)

LNER BYP

Our 'newest' vehicle in the Vintage set, it is often found in use with the Quad-Art set. It was used in departmental service and arrived on the NNR in 1969.

(Above: LNER BYP 6843. Steve Allen)

GER No.7

Built for the Wisbech & Upwell tramway and later transferred to the Kelvedon & Tollesbury branch before it closed, it then survived for 23 years as an onion store. Following transfer to two preservation sites, it was passed into M&GN Society ownership in 2002. GER No.7's sister vehicle, No.8 had a moment of fame in the 1952 Ealing Comedy, The Titfield Thunderbolt. Our No.7 has been restored with a replica bar, as per that fitted in No.8.

(Above: GER Wisbech Coach. Steve Allen)

GER No.853

This vehicle survived as a bungalow at Mattishall, near Derham. The brake compartment will be converted to give disabled access to the vintage set.

The Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway Society is the supporting charity of (and major shareholder in) the North Norfolk Railway, which operates a 5¼ mile heritage railway from Sheringham to Holt.

The Society actively works to preserve, display and operate a wide range of historical artefacts which include four steam locomotives and many unique carriages and wagons.